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Nunatsiaq News Online Commenting Policy (Draft)

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide our readers with comfortable places toexpress their opinions and to encourage the intelligent, lively discussion of issues

raised in our news stories, commentaries, editorials and letters.

Well continue to allow readers to post anonymous comments under pseudonyms.

In doing so, however, we will not tolerate abuse or malice of any kind.

Weve found that, within our industry, there is no consensus on the question of

whether commenters should be required to use real names or whether commenters

may use pseudonyms.

However, we do find that many readers in Nunavut and Nunavik still feel they

need to keep their identities private when sharing information or expressing

opinions. The most common reason is fear of retribution from employers,

politicans and community leaders. That said, we will not allow anyone to use

anonymity as a shield for offensive behaviour.

Readers should be aware that there is no real anonymity on the internet. You leave

traces of your identity on every web site that you visit, including ours.

In the past, we have dealt with repeat abusers by banning their IP numbers. But

from now on, we will deal with such people by restricting them to read-only status.

If we take such action against you, this means we will allow you to read our stories,

editorials and commentaries, but we will not allow you to post comments. All such

decisions are final. Because the volume of comments we receive is so large, we do

not have the time to debate or discuss such decisions.

We understand that our comment boards are a source of free entertainment and

information for many readers. We hope readers understand that it is Nunatsiaq

News that pays for this service and bears all the risk. For that reason, we reserve

the right to delete any comment or ban any commenter at any time.

We expect that some readers may not like some or all of these restrictions.

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But we do not consider them to be an infringement of the right to freedom of

speech.

The internet contains an infinite number of free spaces Facebook, Twitter and

other social media, as well as numerous blogging and website platforms. If you

find that our guidelines are too restrictive, youre free to go elsewhere.

In creating these guidelines, we relied heavily on guidelines used by the Guardian,

the New York Times and the Globe and Mail. We also relied heavily on a report

released in 2013 by the World Editors Forum entitled Online comment

moderation: emerging best practices.

This policy and these guidelines apply to the Nunatsiaq Online website, the

Nunatsiaq News Facebook page, the Nunatsiaq News Twitter feed, the Nunatsiaq

News YouTube channel and to any other discussion platforms we may develop inthe future.

How well moderate your comments

1. We welcome debate, dissent and the expression of unpopular opinions. But well

delete any comment that contains malicious personal abuse and deliberate

misinformation, including trolling, flooding and personal attacks on any person,

including members of our staff.

2. Well delete any comment likely to put our organization into legal jeopardy,

especially comments that appear to be libelous, in contempt of court or in violation

of copyright.

3. Well delete any comment that expresses blatant racism, sexism, homophobia or

any form of hate speech. In doing this, well distinguish between the forthright

criticism of governments, organizations and ideas, and attacks on persons or

groups solely on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability,

religion or age.

4. Well delete comments that we deem to be off-topic, irrelevant or so badly

written theyre impossible to understand.

5. Well bar commenters who attempt to engage in online smear campaigns,

especially during elections. This includes any attempt to post misinformation about

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candidates, including malicious gossip about their sex lives and drinking habits.

We will, however, allow discussion of bona fide criminal convictions, if they are

recent.

6. Well bar commenters who attempt to flood the site with political propaganda on

behalf of candidates or political parties, especially if we detect large numbers of

such comments flowing from the same IP address.

7. Well delete spam and any comment that appears to promote a business or

commercial product.

8. We will close comments until the courts render a verdict on all crime and

court stories where an accused person is named.

9. We will close comments on any story, letter, editorial or opinion piece, if, in ouropinion, allowing comments would lead to abuse of our website.

10. Due to the large amount of material that we publish and the high volume of

comments we received, we do not have time to debate a decision to remove a

comment, close comments or ban a user. All such decisions are final.

11. Although we have the ability to prevent any IP address from accessing our

website, we will deal with repeat abusers of our comment system by restricting

them to read-only status.

Guidelines for you

1. Mind your manners. Dont say anything you wouldnt say in front of your

grandparents.

2. Respect evidence. Dont make claims you know you cant prove.

3. Show respect for the views and beliefs of others, including religious and

political beliefs. Treat other commenters the way you want them to treat you.

4. Take responsibility for the quality of conversation. Try to raise the tone of the

discussion instead of dragging it down.

5. Stay relevant. Do not post off-topic remarks.

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6. If you have a beef with somebody in your community, region or workplace,

chances are nobody except you even cares about it. Dont use our website to

express your personal grudges and to destroy the reputations of people you dont

like.

7. Dont use our comment section to promote your business. Buy an ad.

8. The sex lives and drinking habits of public figures make for good gossip at the

coffee shop. But 99 per cent of the time, these rumours are not relevant to the

issues. Keep them out of your comments.

9. Dont put people down because of their religious beliefs.

10. Stick to what you know to be true and dont repeat hearsay. Well delete most

comments that begin with phrases like I hear that or theres a rumour goingaround that

11. If you support a particular election candidate or political party, thats great. But

dont use our comment section to conduct your campaign anonymously. Campaign

in public.